Dear Friends, Is it providential coincidence that today Varalotti celebrates his birthday Meenakshi celebrates her Thirukalyanam Varalotti becomes a platinum member An extremely happy & auspicious coincidence, by Meenakshi's Grace ! Dear Sridhar, You are the first platinum member in our I L. Platinum is precious, not very common & very valuable. All these attributes hold good for you, my friend. Waiting for your company in the I l Hall of fame - I know the day is not far off ! The best is yet to be. Love, Chithra.
Great Going Varalotti! Dear IL’ites, They say ‘when it rains, it pours’! This seems to be very true today for our Sirdhar Varalotti. For starters, we all know that it is his special day today, his Birthday. He is celebrating his Constant 28th B’day with Payasam and Bakshanam, no doubt. Add to it, his home town Madurai has adorned itself in festive garb celebrating the Devi Meenakshi’s wedding day. If that is not a Divine Blessing to her favorite son, what else is? As if all this is not enough, Varalotti completes a proud sum of 2,500 posts!!!! So friends, let us join in Congratulating this achievement of Varalotti. Let me add that this number is very special as his posts are not just responses in the usual sense, but are always filled with enriching words and thoughtful gestures of a thinking and wise man. Congratulations Sridhar on one more achievement.:2thumbsup: L, Kamla
Re: Great Going Varalotti! Congratulations ! Best wishes!! Greetings!!! dear Sridhar. A festive day for you, indeed ! And Kamla, as he drenches in the downpour , let us all rejoice too in the marginal "saaral" of the cascade for having such a wonderful friend in our midst. Manjula
Oh my dear Chithra! Trust you to be Prompt! And correct to the T! In my enthusiasm to congratulate our friend Varalotti on the completions of his 2,500th post, I posted wishes. I click on the submit button and click again to see my post and lo behold! Chithra has also already about his achieving the Platinum Member status!!!! Hats off to you for your mercury precision As 'hats off' is becoming a frequent practice because of you, I am now going to add hats to my wardrobe Now, Congratulations dear Sridhar on becoming the First Platinum member of our IL) L, Kamla:mrgreen:
Dear Chitra, Thanks for starting this thread. To be greeted on becoming a platinum ILite is in itself good. And to be greeted by the sole occupant of the Hall of Fame is great. And Chithra the IL Moderators have very aptly named this status "Platinum". You know platinum is valuable and precious only because people attribute value to it. The same rule applies to gold and it applies with greater force to platinum. If people were to throw away platinum today, then it will have as much value as iron. Useful but not much valuable. So I deem this status as a reflection of the love and affection that you and 6000 plus ILites shower on me. Thanks once again for being very fast in starting the thread. You started this within 10 microseconds after I finished my 2500th post. Love, sridhar
Re: Great Going Varalotti! Dear Kamla Now this too?!! And Chithra writes about Platinum Membership! I have not only run out of superlatives but my pen has run dry too writing about my illustrious Ilaval(younger brother!) What is it that Kambar said about younger brother? Thambiudayan padaikku anjaan? Varalotti! May you go from strength to strength! Reading about your accoplishments always creases my face with a big smile but I have a problem there. They say that too much smiling can leave a crowfoot around one's eyes like Jimmy Carter's. It suited him but not my chubby face! Sri
Re: Great Going Varalotti! Congratulations Sridhar. A wonderful day indeed for you. Wish you receive more and more accolades everyday. And your peom for the 2500th post was very superb... I too am running out of adjectives now. Vandhana
I am posting here Varalotti's poem so that, it will not be left "unnoticed" in his birthday thread mela ! On this solemn occasion my thanks to all the ILites who have been strongly with me in all my 2500 posts. And here's the poem: I am The Illness And The Pain I cried, ‘Why my Lord, you made me ill?’ He said ‘It is not my will to see you ill. But I am the illness and the pain.’ I woke up one day and got a cure For all my pains and aches, I was sure ‘Thanks My Lord , for making me well Thanks a million; for in me you dwell. Thanks My Lord, for what you gave No..no Thanks My Lord for what you are And Thanks My Lord, for what I am’ ‘My son, let me confess, I did not cure you But I was the cure that worked on the painful you. I am the illness, the ache and pain I am the medicine, the cure and the gain.’ “Thank you Lord for my daily food” I thanked Him aloud ‘I am not the food-giver my dear son But I am the food myself, please listen. Take me in with lots of love Take me in and make me you In a moment of vexation vain I cried, ‘Why did you make me born again?’ ‘I did not give you your birth, my dear But I am the birth that made you come near To me, to live and to work with love That you will never have to be born again’ ‘If it is so, My dear Lord, give me death at once.’ ‘I can’t make you die now, hence You will have to walk your path and bear your cross And suffer your pains, even if they are gross.’ I was about to turn away And walk with my cross in my way When a hand fell on my shoulder ‘Son you are a soldier And I am but the death That will give you the glory and the honour.’ Tears flowing down my wary eyes I prayed to him, I worshipped Him. If you are the birth that brought me here And also the bells of death that I may not hear If you are the illness and the cure I am you, and you are me. What I eat and what I drink What I talk and what I think Is nothing but You divine Without You what can I do, And without me what will You? [FONT="]- Varalotti Rengasamy[/FONT]
Re: Great Going Varalotti! Dear Kamla, All these 2500 posts were possible as there were good, gracious ladies standing there to encourage me, not unlike the mother who watches her son walk for the first time. I told in my reply to Chithra and I repeat it here. Platinum is the apt name for this status. Because platinum as a metal has got this kind of value only because people attribute value to that. The Economists say that every metal is useful in its own way - right from lead, aluminium, iron, silver gold and platinum. But a metal becoming valuable or precious is in the peoples hands. If instead of platinum people were to give the same kind of value to Metal X (which could be stainless steel even) then that X would become precious. My being conferred a platinum status only serves to remind me that all my value came from people like you and the ilites. So honestly speaking I should have started a thread to thank you all. Thanks a lot for Kamla for this wonderful post and for the even more wonderful birthday gift you gave me. Love, sridhar
Dear Chithra Looking at the lightening speed withwhich you greet distinguished ILites on their reaching various milestones, I think the powers that be here should confer on you the title of "The Official Greeter"! You are right Sridhar about things getting value from the attitude people display towards it. My Sabari Malai Guruswamy used to say that if a million people look reverentially at a piece of stone day after day, it attains 'saannidhyam' and status of God. He used to tell us that evey tree around that Temple had acquired this Divinity. Your words took me back to the days of my Guruswamy Sri